In Support Of U.S. Clean Energy Incubators

The Importance Of Clean Energy Incubators.

For any new technology to flourish we need to give it support during the research and development stages when the financial paybacks are not well understood or the risks. Many ideas will not turn out but the ones that do could potentially be very big winners. This is true for clean energy technology as well and one good way to support this research is through clean energy incubators.

In the US, the Department of Energy’s , National Renewable Energy Laboratories have been a great supporter of both renewable research and clean energy incubators.

The National Alliance of Clean Energy Business Incubators (NACEBI) begun in 2000 by U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has become the Clean Energy Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development of clean energy businesses.

The Clean Energy Alliance will take the successful model of the NACEBI and expand on it by offering greater resources and a broader geographic reach. The NACEBI’s 11 incubators graduated 69 companies, who commercialized 102 technologies

Pradeep Haldar, chair of the Clean Energy Alliance and director of E2TAC at Albany NanoTech said:

At a time in our nation’s history when clean energy technologies are increasingly recognized as being of vital importance to the country’s energy and economic future we look forward to the opportunity of establishing partnerships and extending our reach to achieve our vision: education and outreach, business acceleration, technology transfer, technology development and incubation services.

The Clean Energy Alliance, which will maintain close ties with NREL and the Department of Energy, plans to add 10 more incubators in 2007, as well as offer expertise, business connections and information essential to accelerating the growth of clean energy businesses nationwide. The Alliance will host a variety of workshops and forums and develop assistance for refining company business plans, similar to NREL’s Growth Forums. The 19th NREL Industry Growth Forum is Oct. 24-26 in Philadelphia. Visit http://www.cleanenergyforum.com/ for information.

Other activities of the Clean Energy Alliance will include education and outreach, developing and recognizing markets, and helping define research and development strategies.

“To see the clean energy companies become successful in the market has been wonderful,” NREL’s Dr. Lawrence Murphy said.

The Clean Energy Alliance will take what we began to the next level, greatly expanding the reach of these important technologies.